Swedish metal machine By Night has combined the most destructive parts of In Flames, The Haunted, Meshuggah, and Opeth on A NEW SHAPE OF DESPERATION, convincingly whipping up a Swedish smorgasbord of metal. This molten 11-track disc offers a never-ending extreme metal makeover, complete with the mechanical rhythms and well-measured heapings of oppressiveness found on tracks such as "Forsaken Love" and "People Like You". Sorrowful yet weighty as hell (just check those menacing bass line of "Time Is Running Out"), By Night fuse a multitude of heavy music nuances into a brutal batch of tunes that fans of death and thrash should fully embrace. www.lifeforcerecords.com
- Mike SOS